Box Scores
W 8-1 / L 5-3

EAST STROUDSBURG – Senior Jackie Battaglino shut out Millersville over the final six innings in an 8-1 win in the first game as East Stroudsburg University split a PSAC East softball doubleheader with Millersville on Friday afternoon at Zimbar Field.

The Marauders (14-17, 3-7) scored three runs in the first inning of a 5-3 win in the second game to keep the Warriors from sweeping the season series. ESU (14-17, 4-4) posted 7-4 and 5-4 victories on the road on March 24.

Battaglino got 15 consecutive outs from the second through sixth innings and allowed just two hits after Lindsay Hosier singled and scored on a base hit by Kelly Fitzgerald which gave Millersville a 1-0 lead in the first inning.

Senior catcher Kara Darcey had two-run double to put the Warriors on the board in the bottom of the inning after sophomore 3B Rachel Gieringer walked and junior CF Alicea Ashe singled, all with two outs.

ESU took a 4-1 lead in the third on another two-out hit, a two RBI single by junior 2B Jamie Fisher that plated freshman RF Tegan Wendell and Gieringer.

The Warriors put up four more runs in the sixth inning, using three hits and three Millersville errors. Fisher walked to lead off the inning and scored on a double steal, junior Brittany Racek had an RBI single and Wendell had a two-run single later in the inning.

Battaglino yielded a single to start the second inning and another to lead off the seventh and was perfect in between, getting two strikeouts, eight groundouts and five fly outs for her run of 15 straight outs. She struck out four batters in the game and didn't allow a walk in throwing her 12th complete game to improve to 8-8 on the season.

Courtney Eckman threw the first 2.2 innings for Millersville and gave up four runs (all earned) on five hits. Sarah Signore came on in relief in the third and didn't give up a hit until the sixth, with three of the four runs in the inning scored as unearned.

In the second game, the Marauders jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first and stayed in front with Alicia Hughes holding the Warriors in check until the seventh.

Hosier led off the game with a double and the Marauders scored two runs when ESU committed two errors on a sacrifice bunt attempt that allowed Sarah Signore to come all the way around. Kelly Fitzgerald followed with a single and later scored on an illegal pitch before ESU junior Caitlin Monahan got out of the inning.

The Warriors cut the deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth as Ashe started the inning with a double and scored on a two-out single by Monahan, who was 2-for-3 with a pair of base hits.

Millersville added a pair of insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Hosier, and needed both of them as ESU scored twice in the bottom of the inning and got the tying run to the plate.

Junior catcher Samantha Capriotti hit a leadoff double and sophomore 1B Brittany Zanzalari singled to put the first two batters on base. Zanzalari moved up on a groundout to give ESU runners on second and third and Capriotti scored on a groundout by Gieringer. Wendell singled to plate Zanzalari and make the score 5-3, but Hughes got Ashe to hit a ground ball to second to finish the game.

Hughes went the distance in the circle for Millersville, allowing three runs on seven hits. Monahan (five runs, four earned) pitched the first 6.1 innings for ESU and Battaglino came on to get the final two outs.

Gieringer's 11-game hitting streak came to an end in the second game. She was 1-for-2 and scored two runs in the opener before going 0-for-4. Last year's PSAC East Freshman of the Year is hitting .370 (34-for-92) while starting all 31 games at third base this season.

Fitzgerald had a pair of hits in both games for Millersville, which had 10 hits in the doubleheader. The Warriors collected 15 hits, led by Wendell, who was 3-for-8 with three RBI.

ESU travels to Bloomsburg for a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday and hosts Shippensburg in a make-up doubleheader on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. in PSAC East action.